Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $10.40 Million Position in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP) by 8.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 114,346 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,627 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in American Electric Power were worth $10,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of AEP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of American Electric Power by 99,268.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,804,171 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,256,000 after buying an additional 2,801,349 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 13,357,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,268,278,000 after purchasing an additional 2,560,192 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 47.0% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 4,619,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,347,000 after purchasing an additional 1,476,099 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 5.1% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 24,171,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,199,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of American Electric Power by 141.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,912,783 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,726,000 after purchasing an additional 1,119,687 shares in the last quarter. 74.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

American Electric Power Price Performance

Shares of AEP stock traded down $0.88 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $77.52. 2,548,217 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,926,196. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $82.89 and its 200-day moving average is $86.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $39.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.45. American Electric Power Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $77.01 and a 52 week high of $105.60.

American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.14 by ($0.01). American Electric Power had a net margin of 10.20% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The firm had revenue of $4.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that American Electric Power Company, Inc. will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

American Electric Power Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 9th. American Electric Power’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 86.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on AEP shares. Mizuho cut their target price on American Electric Power from $94.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on American Electric Power in a research note on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $98.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on American Electric Power from $103.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 30th. UBS Group lowered American Electric Power from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $105.00 to $92.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 6th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on American Electric Power in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $88.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Electric Power has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.90.

About American Electric Power

American Electric Power Company, Inc, an electric public utility holding company, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity for sale to retail and wholesale customers in the United States. It operates through Vertically Integrated Utilities, Transmission and Distribution Utilities, AEP Transmission Holdco, and Generation & Marketing segments.